Ukraine has improved “Neptune”: how the “long arm” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has evolved

After the triumphant sinking of the Moskva, work on Russian targets did not stop, nor did the improvement of the complex. The last successful defeat was the large landing ship “Konstantin Olshansky” in the bay of temporarily occupied Sevastopol.

The Neptune anti-ship missile system has evolved and advanced in the third year of a full-scale war. If earlier it could only hit ships, now it can also hit ground targets. Focus analyzed how Neptune has changed and what cruise missiles are now capable of.

At the beginning of a full-scale war in Ukraine there was only one Neptune complex, which was supposed to enter the Navy. Development of the complex began back in 2014. By the time it was put into service, only 6 years had passed.

What is the Neptune anti-ship missile capable of?

The anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) is designed to destroy ships with a displacement of up to 5,000 tons. Visually, it is similar to typical anti-ship missiles in its class: American Haproon, French Exocett, British Sea Eagle or Russian/Soviet X-35.

General Director and General Designer of the Luch State Design Bureau Oleg Korostelev said that all such missiles are built according to the same principle: wings in front, and a rudder in the back. The only difference is in the “internal filling”. It is the Luch State Design Bureau that is responsible for the development and production of Neptunes.

The destruction range of the anti-ship version of Neptune is 280 km. The mass of the warhead is 150 kg, and the flight speed is up to 900 km/h. The missile flies low over the water to make it difficult for enemy air defenses to detect.

During the full-scale war, “Neptune” sank or knocked out:

• flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet “Moscow” - sunk;
• frigate “Admiral Essen” - hit;
• BDK "Konstantin Olshansky" - probably hit by a ground-based version of the missile.

The media also wrote that at the beginning of a full-scale war, sabotage was discovered, which led to the failure of the Neptune anti-ship missile system. The check revealed that all the missiles had the same problem - failure of one part. The missiles did not detonate as they should have. However, after the problem was fixed, the Neptunes began to hit as they should.

How the Neptune rocket evolves during a full-scale war

After the first successful defeats, for a long time there was no information in the media about the use of Neptune anti-ship missiles until the summer of 2023. For the first time, Ukraine struck the temporarily occupied Crimea. Later it became known that the S-400 complex was hit by Neptune. It became clear that Ukraine had its own missile with a range of more than 300 km for attacks on ground targets.

The defeat occurred on Independence Day in 2023. The missiles destroyed not only two components of the enemy S-400 air defense system, but also successfully hit the Podlet radar in the area of ​​Cape Tarkhankut. Neptune was programmed to take a route that allowed it to bypass Russian detection systems. The ammunition flew to the target at ultra-low altitude.

A week later, the American publication The War Zone reported that Ukraine had modernized the Neptunes for strikes on the ground. A GPS guidance system was developed for the ammunition and an infrared homing head was created to search and fix targets. An image of the target is loaded into the rocket's memory and at the terminal flight shade it compares what it sees in front of it with the image. In this way, high accuracy can be achieved.

Sources of the publication with whom the journalists spoke stated that the modernized Neptune has a range of up to 400 km and a payload of about 350 kg. That is, more than twice as much as was in the basic version of the rocket.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, said that the key problem as of September 2023 was the number of missiles. It is difficult for Ukraine to increase production due to the likelihood of factories being hit by Russian missiles.

In December, Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Gavrilyuk said that Ukraine was working on developing a long-range version of the Neptune missile.

“Currently, work is underway to create the so-called long Neptune. We are talking about a new modification of the rocket for the Neptune complex,” Gavrilyuk said.

2024 - Ukraine continues to hit “Neptune”

On March 26, the speaker of the Ukrainian Naval Forces, Dmitry Pletenchuk, said that “Neptune” attacked the large landing ship “Konstantin Olshansky” in the so-called. Crimea. The ship lost its combat capability after being hit by missiles.

“Konstantin Olshansky” is a Ukrainian large landing ship, which the occupiers captured in 2014 during the occupation of Crimea. The enemy used the Project 775 ship to donate spare parts. The Russian Federation also planned to pass it off as “Minsk” or “Olenegorsky Miner,” which Ukraine had previously successfully attacked with drones or Western missiles.

“This ship was supposed to be used against Ukraine. Therefore, the decision was made to defeat this unit with our Neptune,” said Dmitry Pletenchuk.

Defense Express experts note that the Neptune was deeply modernized since it was able to hit such a target at a considerable distance. A large landing ship was in the bay of Sevastopol. The official range of “Neptune” is 280 km, but this would not be enough to strike “Konstantin Olshansky”. The missile had to maneuver during the flight so as not to fall into the range of Russian air defense.

For attacks on surface targets, the requirements for the guidance system are less than for attacks on ground targets. “Neptune” had to not only bypass enemy air defense and electronic warfare systems, but also attack the desired ship, because there were other ships in the bay. The ammunition was supposed to distinguish small ships from others.

In addition, the attack on Sevastopol was combined. It was important to attack different targets simultaneously, which required high coordination. Therefore, experts come to the conclusion that “Neptune” is significantly evolving and developing for attacks on the enemy.